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War On Drugs Essay

487 Words2 Pages

What do Papaver somniferum, Erythroxylum coca, and Psilocybe cubensis all have in common? They’re all naturally occurring plants that are illegal in the United States of America. These plants are also referred to as opium, cocaine, and shrooms, also categorized as drugs - substances that alter your state of mind upon ingestion. The War on Drugs, a government led initiative formally created during the Nixon Administration (1969-1974) attempted to control the sale and consumption of such substances. In a 1971 speech, President Nixon claimed that drug abuse was, "public enemy number one", and he emphasized treatment for addicts (Head). However, what may have seemed to be an honest attempt to help the American people, ended up hurting the citizens …show more content…

To prohibit more addiction affecting their country, China outlawed opium importation and cultivation. These transgressions were the catalysts to the opium wars, along with the much needed relocation of suffering Chinese to America, to find salvation in the exciting California Gold Rush. With them, they brought their opium addictions, and opened opium dens in which the substance was purchased, sold and smoked. The first act of limiting drug supply was in San Francisco in 1875, “where smoking opium only in opium dens became illegal” (The National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment). This initial congressional act was quite significant because it launched the underlying theme of racism throughout the War on Drugs; only the Chinese and their opium dens were targeted. This racism followed with the Chinese Exclusion Act being passed in 1882; the American people were not only afraid that Chinese importation of opium would lead to prostitution, but that the immigrants were taking all of the white American citizens’ jobs (Heroin, Morphine, and

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Notwithstanding, physicians stop dispensing prescription drugs not protected under the Harrison Act, in order to circumvent prosecution. Consequently, in a de facto way opiates and cocaine were made illegal. Conversely, practically overnight a new class of criminal was created. The Boggs Act of 1951: Combined increase penalties of previously enacted marijuana and narcotics laws.

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268 Words | 2 Pages

Struggling to maintain social order and strength, the Qing Dynasty placed restrictions on opium trade; however, this backfired, provoking retaliation from British traders and leading to a war that would create the Unequal Treaties. The detrimental socio economic effects opium had on China were beginning to surface during the late 1830’s, causing an influx of smokers and a decline in bullion. Although China’s economy suffered, this was the most viable foreign trade option for the British. There was low demand for the cotton the British offered to China, but the increased profits from opium would do more than compensate. Thus, British merchants took various measures to circumvent China’s policies to stop the illicit trade and managed to find

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

Ultimately, problems from the use of drugs caused Congress to get involved, even when the states discouraged their involvement. Multitudes of laws have been enacted to combat the drug problem in the United States. By the second decade of the twentieth century, calls for expanded drug regulation were prompted in part due to a growing prejudice against minority groups in America that were involved in drug abuse. The Harrison Act of 1914 can be traced back to an issue with the foreign trade. In addition, many Americans disliked the Chinese and their habit of smoking opium, simultaneously, the United States government wanted to open up trade with China.

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723 Words | 3 Pages

In this in-depth article, Joshua Fogel discusses the details and importance of opium in China. Published in 2006, “Opium and China Revisited: How Sophisticated Was Qing Thinking in Matters of Drug Control?” takes us back to the nineteenth century and China's relationship with the outside world during the Mao years. Fogel begins by highlighting the significance of the Chinese government and nationalism in China during the 19th and 20th centuries. This then leads to talk of the opium in China and other area of Eurasia including Britain and Japan. Finally, Fogel succeeds in analyzing the studies done by other scholars, but fails to bring any new evidence or arguments in his work.

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615 Words | 3 Pages

THE OPIUM WARS And its Affect on America The Dream of Trade Throughout the 19th century, Americans dreamed of exploiting China 's market. Especially after the United States expanded to the West Coast, prospects for a lucrative and expanding Far Eastern trade energized U.S. merchants and manufacturers. However China 's imperial government took steps to discourage international trade. When U.S. merchant ships first began arriving in the Far East in the 1780s, they were restricted to trading only through Hong Kong, on the South Coast of China. That restriction persisted for another half century, preventing the China trade from rising above a minute percent of U.S. global commerce.

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1665 Words | 7 Pages

What we interpret from the text is that the law has little to do with the dangers associated with illicit (opium) drug usage? Additionally, people use other drugs, alcohol and tobacco (that are a hazard to health too), both privately and publicly are legal. In fact, creating 1908 anti-drug law is a fight between cultures- Chinese and white traders, it is all about economic crises, racism, resolving labor conflicts, satisfying federal government and, pleasing white traders. Most important of all, health issues does not play the significant role in the creation of the 1908 anti-drug law as it does in the present time. The nature of the statute law starts with the ferocity that took place on September 7, 1907.

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418 Words | 2 Pages

The use of drugs has become a major problem in our society, leading to serious health and social issues. The Rockefeller Drug Act of 1914 was a landmark piece of legislation that sought to curb the sale and use of narcotics in the United States. It was proposed by John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had become increasingly concerned about the effects of drug addiction on society. The act made it illegal for anyone to possess, sell, or transport narcotics without a prescription from a licensed physician. It also imposed stiff penalties for violations of the law and allowed for federal prosecution of those found guilty.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

The Chinese had already known about the existence of opium, but did not start smoking it until the habit of snaking tobacco in the Americas spread to China creating addictions that fueled the opium trade and infiltrated imperial troops (www.britannica.com). The current Chinese ruler at the time did try to restrained and limit the trade of the drug, but since the balance of trade for Europe, especially England, had shifted dramatically in their favor (since they became a great fan of silk, porcelain, and tea from China) they were not about to lose their valuable opium trade business (www.britannica.com ). England could not help, but engage in two opium wars with China (the former coming out as victor in both wars), the first led to a pause in prohibiting the drug and the second extinguished the idea of possibly banning it altogether because of that it took many years to pass before India and China came to an agreement to try to stop the sell of opium and even more for people's addictions to disappear (www.britannica.com ). Unfortunately, for China this caused a decline in the economy since the balance shifted from China exporting more than importing to the other way around, it also affected many of the Chinese inhabitants since many of them grew addicted to opium and like any other drug, it took its toll on the person and China's population. Europe, on the other

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

Nonetheless, this is far from the truth. What the “War on Drugs” did accomplish, however, was mass incarceration, particularly of those in minority groups. One of the main pillars of the advocacy was the dangers of crack cocaine. Although pharmaceutically almost identical to powder cocaine, penalties against crack were dramatically more severe. “The 1986 bill created minimum sentencing laws with a 100:1 disparity between powder and crack cocaine, supported by untrue claims that crack is more dangerous and addictive…

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995 Words | 4 Pages

The new treaty given to China legalized both Christianity and opium, as well as adding additional ports to be opened, and allowed the British to send indentured laborers to the United States (Williams, 2014). These treaties and the losses of sovereignty to foreigners would become a great humiliation to the Chinese, but would then finally see this humiliation end when in 1949 the Communists take over Chinese rule. The Chinese knew that their country was humiliated by greedy and technologically superior Western imperialists, so the Chinese prioritized its goals in modernization so that they can be even with the Western world, ensuring that they will never be compromised and dictated by foreign powers ever again. The Opium Wars may have seen foreigners aggressively attack to ensure that they sold their products in the Chinese market, but these incidents helped play a prominent role in Chinese nationalism which aided in the rise of China to its prominence in the world

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879 Words | 4 Pages

In 1839, the Chinese government tried to ban opium from a port city called Canton. Columbia University 's article, China and the West, says that, “the Chinese are defeated by superior British arms and which results in the imposition of the first of many “Unequal Treaties.” These treaties open other cities, “Treaty Ports” — first along the coast and then throughout China — to trade, foreign legal jurisdiction on Chinese territory in these ports, foreign control

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330 Words | 2 Pages

Another major consequence of the Opium Wars and ensuing trade that can be observed in the lives of the Chinese-Americans of The Joy Luck Club is the consumption of the opium itself and how over time it became integrated into Chinese culture. How Opium Made the World Go Round mentions that at first, opium consumption wasn’t a big deal because it was too expensive for recreational use, only being available for the rich. However, in 1818 a cheaper manufacturing process was discovered and by 1839 enough opium for eighteen million Chinese consumers was being imported (Pomeranz 102). Over time, more and more Chinese citizens began to use opium until it became commonplace in Chinese restaurants and by 1900 over forty million were addicted to the

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552 Words | 3 Pages

The British companies flooded the Black Market with tones and tones of opium leading to upwards of twelve million Chinese getting addicted to the harmful drug by the 1830’s. The Daoguang emperor decided to take action in 1838. He sent commissioner Lin Zexu to Canton to take care of the situation. Lin declared death penalty to be applied to anyone caught in possession of opium. He also confiscated over one thousand tones of opium following a blockade of the merchant’s quarter.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

Some people may argue that school is not necessarily a tool for learning itself, but a tool which teaches us how to learn. The intensive amounts of time spent working in and out of school is something that anyone can use to reach success in their life with the right approach. I’ve worked hard to make sure that this holds true for me as well. Courses such as band and calculus have taught me plenty about the subject matter. However, there’s a bigger picture.

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1532 Words | 7 Pages

In the 19th century, western powers such as Britain were increasing their influence across the world and were engaging in free trade to improve their economic position. One of Britain’s biggest trading partner was China and there was a huge demand for Chinese products such as Chinese tea, porcelain and silk by the British. However, the Chinese had no interest in buying the products offered by the British and this led to Britain facing a huge trade deficit. In response to this, British traders began to illegally ship opium from India to China which led to a widespread addiction to opium in China that caused many economic and social problems in China. In order to control this addiction, the Chinese government led by Lin Zexu confiscated and destroyed over 20,000 chests of opium from British merchants.

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